Harry Potter used to teach philosophy at Minnesota university

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Minnesota university is mixing the magical world of Harry Potter into philosophy teachings.

St. Cloud State University professor Carolyn Hartz is applying Aristotle’s work on friendship to character relationships in J.K. Rowling’s books about the boy wizard, the St. Cloud Times reported. The class discusses ethics, logic, love, the human soul and nature while examining the stories.

Rowling’s stories provide understandable examples of philosophy concepts that can be difficult to comprehend, said Miles Nelson, a second-year university student who took the course last spring. He said the class also shows the depth in Rowling’s work that many people may not have realized if they read the Harry Potter books when they were children.

Nelson said he was inspired to minor in philosophy after taking the course.

“This class really solidified how much I love thinking about hard problems and questions with hard answers,” Nelson said.

Hartz’s office is full of Harry Potter references, including a time turner necklace, a logic puzzle from the first book, and red stones that resemble the sorcerer’s stone from the first book.

“Most of the students in the class are Harry Potter nerds. That’s why they sign up for it,” she said. “I tell them: ‘You can bring your wands, but you can’t use them on exams.”’

Hartz has considered teaching philosophy through other pieces of pop culture, such as video games or the HBO series, Game of Thrones.

“Maybe next year it might help tide people over to the final season (of Game of Thrones),” she said.